Equinor and partners Vår Energi, LOTOS and KUFPEC have made an investment decision to partly electrify the Sleipner field. Today, the partners are submitting a revised plan for development and operation to the authorities, the company said in its release.
The solution for the Sleipner field centre will entail laying a new power cable from Sleipner to the Gina Krog platform, which will be tied into the area solution for power from shore on the Utsira High. During periods when the power need is greater than the capacity in the area solution, Sleipner will use gas turbines, like they do today, to cover the power need.
Emissions savings from all the fields connected to the area solution on the Utsira High are estimated at around 1.15 million tonnes of CO₂ on average per year. Sleipner’s share of this reduction is expected to be more than 150,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually. The Business Sector’s NOx Fund will contribute up to NOK 430 million to realise partial electrification of Sleipner field center and the associated fields.
In October 2019, the Johan Sverdrup licence, together with the partners in Gina Krog, Ivar Aasen, Edvard Grieg and Sleipner with its tie-in fields, reached agreement on allocation of shore-based power from the Utsira High. Power from shore to the area solution is part of the second phase of the Johan Sverdrup development, and will be designed with an additional capacity of 35 MW in order to meet more new power needs in the time ahead.
The EPCIC contract is valued at around NOK 400 million and will yield about 170 man-years distributed over 2 years at Aibel’s office in Stavanger and at the yard in Haugesund. Equipment purchases from subcontractors are also expected to amount to around NOK 150 million. The contract is contingent on the authorities’ final approval of the amended plan for development and operation.
An investment decision has also been made for electrification of Gina Krog. This was a requirement from the authorities in connection with approval of the field’s plan for development and operation. The EPCIC contract to complete the work of electrifying Gina Krog has also been awarded to Aibel. The value of the contract is around NOK 160 million, and it will result in approx. 60 man-years distributed over 1.5 years.
To enable electrification of the Sleipner field, a 28-kilometre high voltage cable must be laid between Gina Krog and Sleipner. Gina Krog will be connected to Johan Sverdrup by a 62-kilometre high voltage cable. The contract for production and laying of cables has been awarded to the cable supplier NKT. NKT has already performed the work of laying the cable from Johan Sverdrup to the Gina Krog field.
Sleipner power from shore investment will be around NOK 850 million and Gina Krog NOK 640 million. The plan is to connect Sleipner and Gina Krog to the power from shore area solution to the Utsira High by the end of 2022.
Partners in the Sleipner licence: Equinor Energy AS, Vår Energi AS, LOTOS Exploration and Production Norge AS, KUFPEC Norway AS